1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a new and improved apparatus for removing solids from sewers and, more particularly, the apparatus is a water jet propelled hollow cylindrical body designed to trap solids, so said solids can be mechanically removed from underground pipe lines.
2. Description of Prior Art
Various means have been developed to remove solids from trunk sewers, but these methods are difficult, time consuming, and expensive when compared to the present invention.
A wastewater collection system is the network of sewer pipes that carry wastewater from homes and businesses to a wastewater treatment plant. This network of sewer pipes is sized according to the volume of sewer flow carried. Large sewer lines are typically called trunk sewers. Trunk sewers are typically designed using minimum slopes which fail to maintain velocities necessary to keep solids suspended in the sewer flow. Due to the settling of solids, all sewers must be cleaned periodically to remove solids. If accumulated solids are not removed, organic solids will decompose causing hydrogen sulfide gases to be released. The build-up of accumulated solids can further reduce the capacity of the sewer pipe, which can cause a stoppage or overflow. The high volume of waters conveyed within trunk sewers further complicates removal of submerged solids.
There are several factors which complicate efforts to remove solid materials such as depth of the sewer, the depth of the sewer flow, and size of the access hole into the sewer. Each of these factors creates additional complications. For example, vacuum systems have a physical limit related to the vertical lift of water using vacuum, which is further complicated when attempting to remove solids submerged under water. Also, many underground pipe lines have access holes which are much smaller than the actual pipe. This limits the use of devices designed to use the water flowing around the device to dislodge and carry solids, because these methods rely on the device to be of a similar size as the pipe being cleaned, thereby making larger pipes very difficult to clean and remove solids from. Further complicating these efforts, larger pipes are also typically at greater depths below the surface. To overcome the limits associated with vacuum, U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,333 discloses a method for cleaning sewers using normal and injected water to suspend solids in a slurry and uses a submersible pump to move this slurry into a pressurized container. However, this method is limited by the additional mobilization and setup time required due to multiple pieces of equipment including, the submersible pump and several tanks. Also, this method requires a large amount of surface work area for the associated equipment which can impact local residents and traffic. Also, this method is more complex in operation due to the multiple components.
Reference also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,192, U.S. Pat. No. 2,454,008, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,128,650 which disclose cable operated sewer cleaning buckets. These references of prior art use similar clam shell type buckets, but these devices are pulled through the pipe on cables using surface mounted winches. The use of a cable system requires extensive setup time for multiple pieces of associated equipment, maintenance hole cable and/or bucket rollers, and require a cable to be run through the sewer.
Reference also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,141 discloses a sewer cleaning shoe with dam and jet nozzles and U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,314 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,080,265 disclose sewer cleaning jet nozzles, the aforementioned prior art is limited because dislodged material can only be removed manually using shovels and the like, or through the use of a vacuum apparatus operating under water within the pipe line. As previously mentioned, vacuuming of said material is difficult due to the high water levels typically associated with flowing trunk sewers, so often dislodged solids often cannot be removed.
The present invention is a substantial improvement of prior art and overcomes the one or more problems set forth above. In this respect, it is desirable to provide an apparatus for removing solids from sewers which is designed to be water jet propelled, dislodges solids within pipes, and also easily removes said solids from trunk sewers and like.
It is further desirable to provide an apparatus for removing solids from sewers or like which utilizes high pressure cleaning hose of a single jet/vac type truck which greatly reduces setup time involved with cable systems, surface work area required for multiple pieces of equipment, and greatly enhances efficiencies and effectiveness due to these benefits.
It is further desirable to provide an apparatus for removing solids from sewers or like which is designed to mechanically remove materials without the use of vacuum, which is ineffective in flooded sewers.
It is further desirable to provide an apparatus for removing solids from sewers or like which cleans and removes solids from a single maintenance hole or access point.
It is further desirable to provide an apparatus for removing solids from sewers or like which uses the supplied water pressure to control the bucket opening.
It is further desirable to provide an apparatus for removing solids from sewers or like which is designed to remove materials without the use of centrifugal pumping and the like which simplifies setup and operation as well as reduces costs.
It is further desirable to provide an apparatus for removing solids from sewers or like which does not require the apparatus to be of a similar size as the pipe from which solids are being removed.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a need for new and improved apparatus for removing solids from sewers or like which can be used to more efficiently and effectively to dislodge solids from pipes and mechanically remove solids from within. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.